A few people have sent me links to Gevlon’s blog since he picked up League of Legends, and I must say it’s been interesting reading so far. In a lot of ways the posts are similar to when Gevlon first started playing EVE, only instead of tackle titan theorycraft and hauling badgers ‘to get rich’, we have stuff like ‘mute everyone’ and ‘don’t gank early as a jungler’. If you don’t know better, it seems like correct advice, but people who actually do know what they are talking about know it’s just bad/flawed advice.

Gevlon’s goal for LoL is to be in the top 10% in ranked play, which is sorta like setting the bar for being ‘rich’ in EVE at being in the top 10% of ISK in your wallet. Basically, almost anyone who actually tries/cares can do it with a bit of effort, so the goal is almost automatically reached simply by showing up. But that has always been one of the boring flaws with Gevlon; he talks a lot and sees himself as making a difference, but ultimately accomplishes very little (though as I’ve said before, being so pants-head insane for so long that CCP recognizes you for it is a pretty major accomplishment on its own).

Top 10% in League is upper Gold, depending on region. Gold rank isn’t bad (Silver seriously is full of people who don’t understand even the basics of the game, while I can’t even imagine the kind of creatures down in bronze), but I also don’t think it’s a difficult achievement. From personal experience over the years, both with my own account (floating in Plat, from 1 to 5 depending on how much I play LoL vs other games), and watching my wife play (floating between gold and plat), the level of play down in Gold is somewhat significantly different than in plat+, both on a micro and macro level. People understand the basics in gold, but it’s still a level where basic mistakes are common (not warding for example), and the toxicity level is still pretty high. The number of afk or ragers in my wife’s games vs my own is very noticeable.

To go back to the Gevlon and EVE comparison however, Gevlon right now is doing the league equivalent of hauling badgers. For example, he is now focused on solo’ing dragon as Warwick because he believes that is statistically the best play. What Gevlon doesn’t understand is that kind of play doesn’t exist in higher ranks, because in higher ranks the other 9 players aren’t so bad as to fully ignore objectives and not ward them. Does it work in Silver? Sure. But almost anything works in Silver. If Gevlon ganked top lane at level 3 well in every game, he would go up in rank. If Gevlon ganked mid line directly at 6, he would win more games. Hell, if he simple doesn’t make massive mistakes and doesn’t go afk, Gevlon will move up in ranks in Silver. That’s how low the bar is at that level. But making badger-hauling ISK, or Silver-winning plays, doesn’t translate to top-level success. No one got truly EVE-rich hauling badgers (or skillbooks for that matter), and no one is hitting plat+ because they focus on soloing dragon with WW at lvl 5.

Let’s take instantly muting everyone for example. At lower levels people don’t generally talk strategy because people (like Gevlon) don’t understand the game well enough yet, so muting or ignoring chat doesn’t have a high correlation to winning or losing. But if you are thin-skinned enough to let chat bother you in general, that’s a flaw you have whether you are in silver or diamond, and is going to be something you will be fighting against going forward.

At higher levels, if you instantly mute everyone, and your jungler tells you they are coming to a lane at X time, you are going to lower your chance of winning by not helping to set that plan up. If you are in bot lane and your partner says they are going to go all-in at a certain point, having them muted is going to lower your chance of winning when that play goes south. From a blind perspective, Gevlon will see that as the laning partner making a dumb play. For the other 4 people on his team, he is going to be seen as someone who failed to make a play. In Gevlon’s crazy world view, he will think he is right. In the real world, his rank growth will be hindered by his own bad advice (muting everyone).

So if you follow Gevlon’s advice for LoL, much like his advice for EVE, you might climb out of Silver or be ‘rich’ enough to hire a small group like MoA to buzz around accomplish nothing of true importance (You’ll have to find a different group than MoA however, as they are now renter pets). If you aim a little higher and want to be truly EVE-rich, or climb higher in LoL, Gevlon’s advice should be used for what it is; batshit crazy entertainment only.

2 Responses to Bad advice is bad, but entertaining in small doses

EvE isn’t layered. You can get to the top relatively quickly. LoL requires working through the trash ranks. Gevlon has recognised that the high-end meta solution might not be most appropriate at the low-end, which is obviously correct for every heavily tiered PvP game. He hit a wall because he lacked both the skills for high-end strategy AND the supporting teamwork. Since the winner at low ranks is the team with the best individuals that is his new focus. He has picked the best strategy for the short-term moderate success which is his target.
I take issue with his blind usage of statistical evidence and reversal of causality. Failing to consider the reasons behind statistical correlation sets you up to accept horrible conclusions and overlook the actual correlation. His short-term approach and deliberate tunnel-vision focus blind him to the evolving strategy denying him the opportunities practise the skills required to succeed long-term. He will hit a wall when his basic strategy is no longer good enough and he faces opponents playing smarter AND better.

You can’t actually get to the real top of EVE quickly. You can’t become a major null-sec factor overnight, just like you can’t become a real market factor overnight (or in this case, after 4 years of trying). Can you become semi-rich if you focus on it? Sure, just like you can start a corp, join an alliance, and become ‘something’ in null or WH or low-sec. But you can’t jump in any become Chribba or Mittani or Lenny, which is why EVE is so unique.

As for LoL, its like I said, he doesn’t understand the game, but rather than actually trying to learn it, he convinces himself he gets it, and then finds whatever numbers he needs to support that, no matter how wrong it might be. its EVE/MoA all over again, only this time his actual impact (rank) is more visible to everyone. The musings of a silver player are cute, but literally anyone who has actually played LoL understands the words aren’t coming from someone with any baseline of success on the subject. In EVE he was at least able to convince a few people that 700b ISK is some noteworthy amount.